Sand collects in shallow parts of the
ocean like the place shown in (A). It is carried to the sea by
rivers that move sediment from eroding mountains. The larger grains of sediment are
deposited closer to shore and the smaller grains are deposited further from shore. The sand often forms ripples, like you can see in (A), and even underwater sand dunes and may eventually become layers of
sedimentary rock called sandstone like that shown in (B).
How do people get to the shallow ocean? They scuba dive!
Back to the Table of Environments
Both images courtesy of Martin Miller, University of Oregon and the Earth Science World Imagebank.
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The
Fall 2010 issue of The Earth Scientist, focuses on rocks and minerals, including articles on minerals and mining, the use of minerals in society, and rare earth minerals, and includes 3 posters!
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